Understanding Pretreatment WesTech Engineering, Inc. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Industrial Water Usage Water is required in almost every industry For: Cooling Boiler feed Process Drinking Cleaning In 2005 it is estimated that USA industrial raw water consumption will exceed 2 million Megaliters per day (500 billion gallons per day)
Water Quality Raw water contaminates include: Dirt and sediment Hardness (dissolved Ca & Mg) Heavy metals like Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, As, Fe etc Salts Organics Color
Water Quality Each industrial application requires a different level of finished water quality. Understanding the condition of the raw water and the finished water quality requirements enables us to configure the right equipment for the specific application. KMnO 4 SiO 2 ph o Ca as CaCo 3 =120mg/l C NaCl Pt/Co TSS E.coli Pb SDI<3 SO 4 MgOH VOC NTU Fe 3 BOD 5 <20 TOC HCO 3 NaOH FOG COD
Equipment & Process Selection Solids removal Screening Sedimentation Flotation Filtration Oily materials Floatation Sedimentation Filtration Hardness removal Chemical reaction Sedimentation Filtration Heavy Metals Precipitation Floatation Sedimentation Filtration
Screening Remove coarse material, wastes and debris. Protects down stream pumps and equipment Typically for material larger than 3mm Solids Removal
There are many kinds of screening products WesTech can offer to meet a project need. Solids Removal
Solids Removal Sedimentation Grit separators Clarifiers Thickeners V Stokes Law = gd 2 18 ( δ ρ) η From Stokes law we see that under the force of gravity a particle s velocity in a fluid is proportional to its diameter and its density. The bigger the particle (or the bigger we can make it), the faster it will settle.
Solids Removal Coagulation Most particles carry some amount of surface charge. Charges of like pole tend to repel each other. Coagulation is the conditioning of the particle surface and environment Dispersed Coagulated
Solids Removal Flocculation Is the means by which we can make large particles from small ones. This is particularly important when we have very fine particles that settle very slowly. Coagulated particles Long chain polymer strand
Sedimentation Grit separators Clarifiers Thickeners Solids Removal
Solids Removal Flotation Fats, oils, grease, emulsions and other materials that have low specific gravities or are so finely divided that they are difficult to settle, can be removed with dissolved air floatation.
Solids Removal Flotation Microscopic size bubbles are created by dissolving gas into the feed under pressure. When the pressure drops the dissolved gas comes out of solution as very small bubbles which attach to and float the solid material to the top. Solid particles and floc structures Bubbles collide with and adhere to particles and flocs Rising floc structure Micro bubbles
Filtration Granular media Membrane Solids Removal
Solids Removal Granular Media Sand Anthracite Garnet Depth filtration Function of flocculation Particle collisions Interstitial spacing
Types of granular media filters Conventional Gravity Pressure Multimedia Self stored backwash Continuous backwash TechnaSand TM Solids Removal
Solids Removal Membrane Polymem TM Ultra filter Physical barrier filtration at 0.01 micron size Produces low SDI water which improves RO performance.
Hardness Removal Chemical precipitation Cold lime softening Warm lime softening Caustic softening Lime / soda ash Converting highly soluble materials to less soluble forms that can be removed by techniques of liquid solid separation 2 Ca Na CO CaCO Na 2 3 3 2
Hardness Removal Solids recirculation Solids Contact Clarifiers External recirculation External reactors Spontaneous formations of precipitates are most often very fine and settle poorly. Once through reactions are prone to develop precipitates on equipment surfaces (scaling) because it is easier to propagate crystal growth.
Hardness Removal Solids Contact Clarifiers
Hardness Removal Solids Contact Clarifiers Components CHEM FEEDS DRIVE UNIT RECIRCULATION TURBINE OVERFLOW LAUNDER REACTION WELL INLET PIPE SOLIDS RECIRC DRAFT TUBE SCRAPER ARMS
Metals Removal Oxidation Iron, manganese Reduction Chrome 6 to Chrome 3 Precipitation Hydroxides Ion Exchange Depending on the demands of the application, it may be necessary to combine chemical process and perform multi step reactions.
Systems Many applications will require multiple unit processes to achieve treatment. A systems approach in equipment is often needed. Combining unit processes for raw water pretreatment is one of WesTech s strengths. Systems
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